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Within the framework of the MiM Manufacturing Concentration our group visited Opel in June 2016.
The visit was started with a pleasant tour through the history of Opel, being shown the complete automobile evolution of the cars that Opel produced and produces. It was a nice start to the day as even though it had no direct learning value to any student of manufacturing; it held a certain awe to experience the development of this car manufacturer and its design from its earliest days until the current day.
Soon afterwards though, we were taken to the belly of the beast, being shown the first steps undertaken in the car manufacturing process. We proceeded past heavy machinery, buzzling and cracking electronics and down long corridors filled with massive metallic shapes. What was certainly amongst one of the most fascinating aspects of this tour was the planned yet dynamic work rotation given to the people working at Opel, as the employees would not simply stick to a single monotonous task but given a set series of constantly changing assignments, all condensed within a limited space in which the employee was operating in.
Next we watched as the car production was split into two separate processes, one following the assembly individualisation and completion of the chassis of the car, all while being confronted with the comprehensive ramblings of Professor Thun, who took some vivid joy explaining down to the smallest detail that we were watching a “batch” production taking place. Imagine having ten customers, three want white cars; four want black cars and another three want red cars. Now imagine that these orders are being placed wildly mixed and stirred and shaken. Trying to produce cars exactly at the time the customers wants them, how they want them, would not be very effective. So instead you produce them in batches: First you produce three white cars, then four black cars and finally three red cars. This is how I at least understood how the process works and I suggest if you are interested in getting a deeper knowledge of “batch production”, that you should contact Professor Thun, who will gladly give you a , maybe not so short, lesson on the exact how’s and what’s of this particular manufacturing process.
The other side of the production saw the assembly of the endogenous parts of the car, that is: Wheels, seats, exhaust and the further underbody. This excluded the engine which was being put in place in the final step of the assembly. Yet again we were confronted with a relentless assembly line, steadily yet irreversibly rolling forward without a pause, and yet again Professor Thun lectured us on how the modern assembly line had been advanced with its technology, aiding its human workforce to make the job as painless and precise as possible. As a matter of fact it was rather fascinating how human and machine began to melt into one fluent motion as each worker in the assembly line knew exactly when, where and how to grab assembly tools , turn to face the secondary line and even when they should halt to reassemble their own workplace.
Finally we saw the “marriage” of the chassis, engine and lower part of the car. If you are wondering about the exotic name given to the whole process, let me tell you that “marriage” is the exact term given to this step by the people within the industry itself. Here, as it was explained to is, was the finalised step of the whole process, where all the parts were flowing back into the final connection of all the separate parts into one finished product and it is here were we also finished our tour to the Opel plant in Frankfurt. I have to say that I enjoyed the visit a lot and can certainly recommend anyone who has always wondered how a car is made a visit to the Opel plants.
Frankfurt School gGmbH
Adickesallee 32-34
60322 Frankfurt am Main
